Bush, House Leaders Agree To Expand Jobless Benefits

January 29, 1992|By New York Times News Service.

WASHINGTON — Agreeing to sidestep a bitter election-year issue, President Bush and House leaders decided Tuesday to spend $2.7 billion on another 13 weeks of unemployment benefits for about 2 million long-term jobless people.

Senate Democrats didn`t commit themselves to the plan immediately, but Sen. Lloyd Bentsen (D-Texas), who heads the Finance Committee, said he is confident a bill could be sent to Bush for his signature ``by the end of next week.``

If Bentsen is correct, Republican lawmakers and Bush would have to put aside a painful political issue that Democrats used last year to paint Bush as uncaring about hardships on the home front and endlessly concerned with foreign problems.

Last year Bush killed two versions of the bill, arguing that the budget deficit shouldn`t be increased. But he ultimately signed an extension into law last November.

This time around, the Democrats seized a quick, certain agreement with the administration, abandoning a partisan advantage in part to avoid a fight that could make Congress appear to be bickering while thousands of unemployed Americans suffered.

For some workers, the extra benefits adopted last November will run out in mid-February.

The new bill would allow workers in all states who have exhausted unemployment benefits-limited to 26 weeks in most states-another 13 weeks of payments. These could be added to the 13 to 20 weeks adopted last fall, so that some people could receive as many as 26 weeks of regular benefits and 33 weeks of extra benefits.

Others would receive less, depending on when their benefits run out and whether they live in the few states eligible for 20 weeks of benefits because they have markedly high unemployment rates.

The Democrats, instead of trying to steamroll Republicans and adopt a $4.5 billion measure proposed last week by Rep. Dan Rostenkowski (D-Ill.), chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, settled for a less costly measure that would expire in July. The Rostenkowski measure would have expired in October.

The committee sent the lesser measure, sponsored by Rostenkowski and Robert Michel (R-Ill.), the House minority leader, to the floor on a voice vote Tuesday. The whole House will vote next Tuesday under a procedure allowing only 40 minutes of debate and requiring a two-thirds majority for adoption.

The measure would make some workers in states with high unemployment eligible for a total of 59 weeks of jobless benefits, which average about $170 a week. That would be a longer period of benefits than in any previous recession. In 1976, up to 55 weeks were paid. The bill would benefit people who already have run out of their benefits or who will by July 4.

Like November`s measure, the bill would be financed with accounting devices and not by imposing any new taxes or cutting other federal spending.